Federal authorities are investigating letters with “suspicious substances” that have been mailed to congressional and election offices nationwide and are urging recipients to treat the letters as “potentially hazardous.” Senators were informed by the Senate Sergeant at Arms in a message obtained by the AP. The mailings come just three weeks before Election Day.
President Donald Trump said Thursday that the Pentagon will not live-stream the firing squad execution of Fort Hood shooter Nidal Malik Hasan, after the announcement faced bipartisan criticism that such images could fuel radicalization.
And a strong majority of voters believes Trump is falling short at home and abroad, and they want major change in the upcoming midterm elections, according to a new AP-NORC poll that raises serious warning signs for the Republican Party at a critical moment.
Wholesale inflation increase highest since 2002
The big jump in fuel costs is posing more pocketbook challenges for millions of Americans and a growing political problem for Republicans.
Monthly wholesale prices rose 1.3% from August to September, the largest increase since March 2022, after a 0.5% gain the previous month.
The data indicates that more expensive diesel fueling long-haul trucks and freight trains is pushing up the cost of shipping and warehousing goods, which in turn is lifting the cost of food. Diesel averaged $6.32 a gallon nationwide Thursday, according to AAA, up from just $3.66 a year ago.
“The jolt to transportation prices affects every good in the economy, since inputs to manufacturing move to factories and goods at all stages of production move from producer to wholesaler to retailer by truck, train or rail,” Carl Weinberg, chief economist at High Frequency Economics, wrote in a client note. “This is how increases in energy prices ‘bleed through’ to prices of core goods.”
Newsom to campaign for Democrats in New Hampshire
The California governor and potential 2028 presidential candidate will be in Nashua, New Hampshire on Saturday. Gavin Newsom is joining Chris Pappas, a Democratic candidate for Senate, along with Cinde Warmington, who is running for governor.
Democrats currently hold both of New Hampshire’s Senate seats but the party has worried that Pappas’ campaign could be more competitive than expected.
New Hampshire is still attracting potential White House hopefuls like Newsom, even if Democrats have stripped the state of its longheld status as host of the nation’s first presidential primary. The state is poised to vote third in 2028, after South Carolina and Nevada.
DNC and Trump administration make court arguments on taxpayer-funded ads
Democratic National Committee attorney Adam B. Miller asked a federal judge in Washington on Thursday to block the Trump administration from continuing to develop or air federally funded ads that the committee views as violating propaganda law.
The government’s counsel, Elisabeth Neylan, argued the DNC’s claims that the ads cause irreparable harm in its emergency request are unconvincing, because the government already stopped airing the ads this week.
U.S. District Judge Loren AliKhan said she’d take the issue under advisement. The case proceeds as a federal judge in New York already has temporarily blocked the pro-Trump ads from airing through Nov. 8, siding with plaintiffs who said they were an illegal misuse of funds.
The FBI and Postal Service are probing letters with ‘suspicious substances’ sent to congressional and elections offices
The letters have been mailed to congressional and election offices around the nation. Federal authorities are urging recipients to treat the letters as “potentially hazardous.”
The U.S. Senate was informed of the investigation in a message from the Senate Sergeant at Arms obtained by The Associated Press.
The mailings come just three weeks before Election Day and are reminiscent of a similar threat in 2023, when several election offices received envelopes containing the powerful opioid fentanyl.
GOP senator wants Defense Department to be investigated over Ukraine’s Starshield loss
GOP Sen. Thom Tillis said he plans to ask the Defense Department’s inspector general to investigate after restrictions were imposed on Ukraine’s battlefield use of the U.S.-made Starlink satellite communications systems.
The restrictions affected Starshield, a military version of Starlink developed by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, but Tillis wrote that “the latest reporting suggests this strategic snafu may have occurred more locally within DOD Starshield systems, not with Starlink.”
“At best, this was an unacceptable error or lapse,” Tillis wrote in a Wednesday night post on X, and at worst a conscious decision “to clear the field for a Russian attack.”
Tillis is retiring at the end of the year and has become increasingly critical of the White House and Trump’s appointees. He wrote Wednesday that he’s “not holding my breath for Defense Secretary Hegseth to offer transparency.”
A new Medicare season begins, with concerns about higher costs to come
Enrollees are facing some cost increases that go into effect in 2027 as open enrollment for Medicare plans begins.
During the enrollment period, which began Thursday and ends Dec. 7, people can choose between traditional Medicare and privately run Medicare Advantage plans in their area, as well as prescription drug plans. Those changes go into effect on Jan. 1.
New changes to Medicare coming in 2027 include higher Part D out-of-pocket caps and the end of temporary federal Part D premium subsidies. New negotiations could lower drug prices in some cases.
The open enrollment period comes as inflation adds pressure on seniors whose healthcare costs have risen and as Americans prepare to cast ballots in the Nov. 3 elections. Voters have consistently said cost-of-living is a major concern.
Trump, after bipartisan backlash, says Pentagon won’t livestream execution of Fort Hood shooter
Trump said Thursday that the Pentagon no longer plans to live-stream the firing squad execution of Fort Hood shooter Nidal Malik Hasan, after the announcement faced bipartisan criticism.
Trump said on social media that publicly airing the execution “might have been a strong deterrent for the World to witness how America deals with Terrorists and SCUM like Hasan,” but “very good and well meaning people would rather not watch him die, through streaming, or through any other visual device.”
Trump said the Dec. 3 execution can be viewed in person by immediate families of the victims, “if they so choose.”
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had said the execution would be public. The Pentagon had said it would be live-streamed. Both Republicans and Democrats denounced the plans, some saying the images could fuel radicalization. Vice President JD Vance said he wouldn’t watch it.
Zelenskyy says he feels betrayed by the American president
Zelenskyy has complained that Ukraine was being denied the usual Western intelligence on Russian ballistic missile strikes, and that U.S.-made Starlink communications were being hamstrung. Both are vital for Ukrainian defenses and attack operations.
Meanwhile, Trump made a deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin to import Russian diesel, despite international efforts to sanction Russia for its invasion and diplomatically isolate Putin.
Zelenskyy said in an interview late Wednesday with Piers Morgan on the British journalist’s YouTube show that he felt betrayed by Trump’s deal with Putin, the energy ceasefire announcement and the Starlink operational issues.
“Our country has to survive, and we count on our real partners, strategic partners, the United States and President Trump,” Zelenskyy said.
Elon Musk noted on X that the military version of Starlink, called Starshield, is controlled by the U.S. military and Trump.
Zelenskyy said someone is pushing Trump into a stance that is “not the right side of history.”
Zelenskyy complains about US stance toward Ukraine
Thursday’s strike could further complicate Kyiv’s relations with Trump, which have soured again in recent days, but Zelenskyy was outraged by Russia’s continuing aerial bombardment of his country’s energy infrastructure in apparent defiance of Trump’s demand on Sunday for both sides to halt those attacks.
The Ukrainian government had said it was heeding the ceasefire. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Ukraine never stopped its strikes. It wasn’t possible to independently verify each side’s claims.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov labeled Ukraine’s strikes on oil facilities as a “direct and crude challenge to President Trump.”
Ukraine resumes attacks on Russian oil refineries as US relations teeter
Ukrainian drones attacked a refinery in Russia’s Ryazan region early Thursday, hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that a brief truce declared by Trump but spurned by Moscow was over amid deepening tensions with Washington.
The drone strike started a fire at the refinery about 300 kilometers (180 miles) southeast of Moscow, Russia’s Defense Ministry and Ryazan Gov. Pavel Malkov said. Russia’s Astra online news outlet posted what it said was a photograph of the blaze.
A senior Ukrainian official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to speak publicly, confirmed that Ukraine had hit the refinery.
Associations representing election officials condemn letter threats
At least two state election offices, in Louisiana and Oklahoma, have been evacuated this week after being sent envelopes containing white powder.
The mailings come just three weeks before Election Day and are reminiscent of similar threats in 2023, when several election offices received envelopes containing the powerful opioid fentanyl.
This time, authorities said no harmful substances were immediately identified. The Ohio Secretary of State’s office said the Postal Service had noted that similar mailings had been sent to election officials in multiple states.
The National Association of Secretaries of State and the National Association of State Election Directors condemned the threats. “Those who administer our elections should never fear for their safety while carrying out their essential duties,” their joint statement said.
The associations said security measures are in place for future threats.
Democrats see voter enthusiasm reflected in small-dollar donations
The Democratic National Committee says it’s raised more than $10 million from grassroots donors in September, a late surge of money for the cash-strapped party that outpaces the same month’s totals during the three previous midterm election cycles.
Chairman Ken Martin said it’s a “clear sign” Democrats are on a winning path. The party has struggled with fundraising during Trump’s second term, lagging behind Republicans and carrying debt into this year’s campaign season.
Joe Rospars, a Democratic strategist who worked on Barack Obama’s presidential campaigns, said small-dollar donations often reflect voter excitement and volunteering for the party and candidates. About 1 in 5 of the donors are giving for the first time, the DNC said.
“It means that the grassroots dollars are not just dollars. They’re energy,” he said.
As anger over Iran war spreads, Democrats hope military veteran candidates can flip GOP seats
Democrats are investing campaign cash in districts that have been longshots for years, counting on the unpopular war with Iran and upheaval in the armed forces to put more seats in play as the party pushes for control of the U.S. House. Democratic candidates who previously served in the military are running in Colorado, Florida, South Carolina and Virginia districts with significant veteran populations.
Although veterans hold all sorts of political beliefs, the population overall leans right — nearly 6 in 10 voted for Trump two years ago, according to AP VoteCast.
“I know there’s a bunch of veterans in the room, so I don’t have to tell you where we are with foreign policy,” Democrat Jessica Killin, an Army veteran who served in the Balkan war, told voters in Colorado’s 5th, one of the nation’s most veteran-heavy districts. “For the first time in history, now the global community thinks more of China than of the United States.”
Where’s the beef? Affording meat is a battleground campaign question
Meat is on the menu as Americans prepare to vote. As Democrats and Republicans argue over high prices and the Iran war, they’re also having a food fight over who’s the most red-blooded carnivore.
In Mississippi, Democratic Senate candidate Scott Colom ’s video shows Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith saying that consumers upset over high beef prices “have so many proteins to choose from.” The video cuts to a man grilling burgers who says, “Pick another protein? I’d rather pick another senator instead.”
Elsewhere, Republicans have branded Democrats as opposed to meat, culturally out of step with voters, hostile to local cattle industries or just not manly enough.
The real issue is that ground beef prices have risen by 22 percent since Trump returned to office, and remain stubbornly high despite Trump’s decision to open U.S. markets to more beef imports, angering U.S. producers.
Albania protests: Anti-government movement targets Kushner-linked project
Student-led demonstrators clashed Thursday with Albanian police in the capital Tirana for a third day running, joining a broader anti-government movement launched in opposition to a major development project promoted by Trump’s daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner.
Youths protesting Albania’s long-serving Socialist government hurled rocks at a police cordon outside the Education Ministry, and riot police responded with tear gas and water cannons. Wednesday’s riots featured protesters attacking government buildings, banks and businesses, leaving 89 people injured including 61 police officers, according to the Health Ministry.
Student groups seeking education reforms have joined the so-called flamingo movement — named for the birds in a nature reserve where the luxury tourism development is planned — which is calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Edi Rama over allegations of widespread corruption and in opposition to the Kushner venture.
The number of Americans filing for jobless aid remain at historically low levels below 200,000
U.S. applications for unemployment benefits inched up last week as layoffs remain historically low and most American workers enjoy job security.
Initial jobless claims for the week ending October 10 ticked up by 1,000 to 199,000 from the week before, the Labor Department said Thursday. The four-week average of claims, which smooths out week-to-week volatility, rose by 250 to 198,500.
Claims for jobless benefits are a proxy for layoffs, and economists watch them closely because they can provide signs of where the job market is headed. So far this year, claims have remained at a historically low level below 220,000.
The total number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits for the previous week ending October 3 fell by 4,000 to 1.71 million, also a historically healthy figure.
Wholesale inflation jumped last month by most in four years as gas prices soared
Wholesale inflation rose more quickly than expected last month on a big jump in fuel costs, a sign that stubbornly rising prices remain an economic challenge for consumers and a political problem for Republicans as Americans begin to vote.
The Labor Department’s producer price index — which captures inflation before it reaches consumers — soared 6.3% in September from a year ago, up from 5.6% in August and the biggest increase since December 2022, the government said Thursday.
Thursday’s data amplifies the better-known consumer price index, released Wednesday, which also accelerated in September as gas prices jumped. A broad range of goods and services also got more expensive. Both inflation reports raise pressure on the inflation-fighters at the Federal Reserve to hike their key interest rate. Inflation has now topped the central bank’s 2% target for five and a half years.
Rep. Ilhan Omar’s phone seized and relatives subpoenaed in criminal probe, AP source says
Federal authorities investigating Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar seized the Democratic lawmaker’s phone and have issued more than a dozen grand jury subpoenas, including to some of her relatives, according to a person briefed on the probe.
The subpoenas were issued for a grand jury collecting evidence in Minnesota as federal authorities probe potential fraud in Omar’s immigration paperwork, said the person, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss an ongoing investigation. The investigation led to federal agents searching Omar’s Washington, D.C. home on Monday just weeks before the November midterms, in which Omar is seeking reelection.
The scope of the investigation into Omar is unclear, though Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin has suggested that authorities were examining potential crimes related to her family’s immigration paperwork. Omar became a U.S. citizen in 2000 when she was 17 years old, five years after she arrived with her family after obtaining asylum in the United States.
The search of Omar’s home so close to next month’s midterm contests was swiftly condemned by Democrats, who accused the administration of targeting the Democrat for political purposes. Omar, in a statement on X, called the search an “attempt to target political enemies and weaponize federal law enforcement.”
AP-NORC Poll: Trump’s numbers on the economy and costs remain weak
Voters are deeply frustrated with Trump’s leadership on the issues they say matter most, the new poll found.
The economy and the cost of living are high priorities for voters on both sides of the aisle. The survey found that the vast majority of Republican and Democratic voters say both issues are among the most important for the upcoming election.
But about 8 in 10 registered voters disapprove of how Trump is handling the cost of living and about three-quarters disapprove of his performance on the economy.
Even among Republican voters, only 44% approve of Trump’s performance on the cost of living, while 54% approve of his leadership on the economy. That’s a sharp contrast with other issues, like crime, where Republican approval is much higher.
AP-NORC Poll: The vast majority of voters want change
One thing is crystal clear on the eve of the 2026 midterms: Voters want change.
About half of voters say they want “substantial change” in how the country is run, according to the new AP-NORC poll. Roughly 3 in 10 want “complete and total upheaval.”
Democrats and independents are much likelier than Republicans to want a full overhaul of the country’s direction. But even Republican voters are still looking for something different. Slightly fewer than half, 45%, want substantial change, while 13% want upheaval.
“I’m kind of tired of sending people there, and nothing gets done,” Krista Kohles, a 70-year-old Republican told the AP. “Nothing’s changing.”
AP-NORC Poll: Democrats are more enthusiastic about voting than Republicans
Democratic voters are more enthused than Republican voters about casting a ballot, according to a new AP-NORC poll conducted weeks before the midterm elections.
The survey finds that registered voters who identify as Democrats are more enthusiastic than Republican voters about voting, and more voters want Democrats to win control of Congress. The Democratic advantage is small in some cases, but taken together, the findings paint a challenging picture for Republicans.
Overall, about two-thirds of registered voters say it’s “extremely” important to vote in the upcoming election, while about 2 in 10 say it’s “very” important. But about three-quarters of Democratic voters say this is “extremely” important, compared to roughly 6 in 10 Republicans.
Alaska U.S. House candidates highlight contrasting priorities, style in debate
Clear contrasts were on display during a statewide debate between Alaska’s top two U.S. House candidates, starting with their attire.
Republican Rep. Nick Begich donned a suit and tie. Independent Bill Hill, a commercial fisherman, wore jeans, a dress shirt and zip-up vest and a cap with a fishing company logo.
Begich said he’s been effective. He expressed support for Trump, the president’s use of tariffs and the war in Iran. He said he wants to continue seeing expanded oil development in Alaska.
Hill asked Alaskans to look at their grocery bills and health care costs and ask if they’re better off than they were two years ago. He said many Alaskans are upset about U.S. involvement in “never-ending” wars.
The debate came a day after Trump held a rally in Wasilla in support of Begich and U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan.
Alaska House candidate says that as an independent, his vote would be ‘greatest piece of leverage'
Alaska independent U.S. House candidate Bill Hill is challenging Republican Rep. Nick Begich for Alaska’s only House seat. Hill faced criticism early on for declining to say which party he would caucus with were he to win next month’s election. He has been endorsed by the state Democratic Party.
During a debate Wednesday, Hill said he’d like to caucus with people who are “tired of this party-line partisanship” and who would support addressing issues like health care costs and pushing back against an overreaching executive branch.
Begich, an ally of Trump, said Hill is “too progressive” for Alaska and that it’s clear who he’d caucus with. Hill, meanwhile, accused Begich of being a rubber stamp for Trump.
Trump press secretary Katie Zacharia faces scrutiny over claims she’s a lawyer
The new White House press secretary is facing mounting questions about her background and resume as she transitions into her role as the public face of the Trump administration.
Katie Zacharia has long described herself as a lawyer as she has worked to establish herself as a commentator for conservative outlets like Fox News and Newsmax. But so far, she and the White House have offered no evidence that she passed the bar exam in any state or in China, where she worked for a large law firm years ago.
The questions add to the confusion surrounding Trump’s decision to hire Zacharia, who had worked for his social media company for only a few months when he announced her appointment and whose debut at the podium on Tuesday has been widely panned.
Afterward, the president was asked by reporters where Zacharia had passed the bar exam, following a report by the independent outlet Popular Information that she did not appear to be licensed in any state.
House Democrats plan a first 100-days agenda if they sweep to power in midterm elections
House Democrats are preparing an ambitious 100-days agenda focused on delivering their campaign promises — making life more affordable and conducting vast oversight of the Trump administration — if the party seizes majority control in next month’s elections.
Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries, who is in line to become House speaker if the party wins power, said the Democrats will be united “right out of the gate” on reinstating Affordable Care Act tax breaks, reversing Republican Medicaid cuts, holding votes against the Iran war and undoing President Donald Trump’s tariff regime.
They expect to launch the agenda in the first 100 hours, once the new Congress is seated in January.
“Fighting for an affordable America — that’s what unites Democrats all across the country,” Jeffries said recently at the party campaign headquarters in Washington.
“That’s our commitment to the American people, because the cost of living is way too high and far too many people who are working hard, playing by the rules, can’t thrive and can barely survive — and are drowning — in the Trump economy.”
